Churn and adapter therefor



April 18, 1950 w. D. MITCHELL CHURN AND ADAPTER THEREFOR /N VEN 7' 01 Patented Apr. 18,:1950

churn which haslza smooth, flat bottom fand-top 'ajifiditl-iiis fitcan bequickly placed in an ordinary `ret-1figeractor after theichurn is removed from the 'Mdapt'en Y I It is another object of my invention -tofprovide .aiehnrn which' can be "made 'in 'a5 standard :size tra dx-then adapted ftotany Washing 'machine 'fgitatoridrivefnut by 'the provision of ymy novel adapter. The vada'ptercosts only Ya Vxfraction of the cos't `of the churn and :thus =itA 'savescon- ,slderable fof ythe manufacturing cost of churns to t Sail Altypes of washing :machine fagitator drive inutsc fIt'lis al1-object of 'my invention to provide 'a churn which4 can be `Vused fto Wash delicate materials, such as silk stockings'andladies yunderwear, due to the gentle action of the churn'and f tlfenbsence -of rough ysurfaces on lthe vinside` of *thechurn. I

I ther'objects and advantages n of -my invention :be apparent -from the fiollowin'g; description claitrgythe noveltyconsisting in the features "fo constructiomcombination olf parts?, the unique relations;I of'wthe members andthe relative proporit ninggdisposition andoperation thereof,.- fallas is morecoxnpletely outlined herein-and a'sisfparl ularlyf-Pointedfwt in the eppendedfelaimf Y,

n ftheacc'ompanying drawings, .forming .afpat `1st-pre.Sent S12eiati0n. A gurej 1f is gavertical sectional .view off my churn .ing the-preferred embodimentjin -its .com- 'fpleelyiassembled position.

Figur-ei 2 fis. ayghor1zontal sectional-viewalong ani mesa-2 vif-Figure 1.- v ,l

Figure 3 is afplan view lof myfadapteren'gaging a si'iffedrivenut.

Figure 4 isa plan View of my adapter engaging a hex drive mit.

be-'madefof any-'.desirableshape, I prefer to fs'quar :churnhaving four 'Walls I2 vand 'a 'bottom I4. 1I @refer tomake the walls `and `bottom of cleai` plastic material so that it is possible to see what is happeningto the matter-inside of the chiirn ,during iop erations.

@Inamy=preferredlaernbodiment I provide Vfoin vertical ribs I6 qreferably locatedin the :center f each wall I2 and four horizontal ribs I'pref- :erafblylocatedi-n the `center of the bottom vI4ga`nd iconnecting thefvertical Vribs I6. In :this manner, theffribs beingfsubstantially the same size, I provide-:four linwardly extending ribs :or 'vaneson .th'ewerti'cal walls and .four 4similar .sized ribs for vaines Jon the bottom, thus dividing .my zchurn into four substantially equalsections.

These irib's `vor vanes serve vto fagitate the ,maaterial :being churned :and to break upfthefeven flow of this material-iso :as 'to make fit agitate more `vigorously. `They are .preferably a `half inch :deep though itheymay be :smal-1er :or larger.

y r1 :provide raised lugs `2-2, preferably four in numben'fwh'ich;are-*integrallyattached to thebot- Stom I'4. My preferred I position of vthese lugs Sis ttofmakeeach oneof them astride ofy or interrupt- Sing' theline of one of the horizontal ribs i118. `These wraised'lugs 22 'must h'ave Ua uid tight mounting on the bottom I4, or be cast integrally with ithe'fbottom -I 4, in 'orderto preventany liquid in vthe `churn from escaping.

A snug rtting Elid -24 2isanrovided on 'the top of Iinyrchlirn 'I D andra Idepressed :handle v26 fitting in ,a Well28 makes fthe" top'of the lid'24 flushfor easy storage, packing and shipment. IY always f- .prefer to :have 'the lid on 'wheneverrany -churning foperationis beingiperformed.

1 rbetweennmyfadapter :Standfmyvchurn I-.il-isinro- :vided l vIt ;isfvenyeasyftoinsert the leg 32 into vt'hehollow opening Ilfin-:fmy #raised lug A222f-and :thusfthe churn; I Broan* loe-connected to Vmy adapter by; merelys'inserting the slegs 1132 into fthe openL fyReerringto the kdravvingsl will describe the n es s satisfactory. tanned' nahe *am can 'tWhen it .ils Hesired'rto disconnect my `churn 'fromfiny Hadater, it isi'nec'es'saryonly to lift-'the upwardly of'of 'Sthele'gs 32 of my fadaptei' My ffhurn-fis rprferably imaae :or fsiifncienny strong matenalithatftne Vv=1`ugs12.-: cantare me torsionals'traini'lnpartefd bythe legs- 32 foi' my adapter 34.

L any desired shape such as hex'fdriving'inutgf' which is engaged by hex opening 43 in adapter 34. It is obvious that by cutting additional grooves and enlargements of the bore 38 in adapter 34 it will be possible to accomodate an unlimited number of diierent size driving nuts.

modated by one of my adapters 34.

It is conceivable that it might require several different types of adapters34 to fit all of the drive nuts on the market, but certainly a large number of diierent sized and shaped drive nuts can be accommodated by each adapter.

Obviously the adapter, which is preferably made of aluminum or some-alloy material, is quite inexpensive and costs a small fraction of the cost of the churn I0.

Thus, by providing one or more adapters 34 to fit all of the various types of churns, the cost of manufacture of a complete unit consisting of a churn and an adapter is materially reduced.

By making the lugs 22 integral with the ribs I8, or by attaching the lugs 22, the ribs I8 and the bottom I4 integrally together, greater strength is given to my construction to take the twist or torsional action given by my adapter 34.

The driving nuts 4U or 42, as the case may be, are attached by ordinary screw threaded connections or other means to the agitator 44 of an ordinary washing machine which furnishes the power to actuate my churn I0.

Turning to the mode of operation of my churn, it is only necessary to slip an adapter 34 over the driving nut 40 or 42 of a washing machine agitator 44 and drop my churn onto the upturned legs 32 of my adapter 34 in such a manner that the legs enter into the hollow openings 30 in my raised lugs 22 in order to connect my churn I0 to the agitator 44, and then my churn is ready for use.

If it is desired to churn butter, it is only neces-'- sary to put the cream in the churn I0, preferably filling it half full of cream, then turn on the washing machine so that the agitator 44 starts churned into butter.

The bottom I4 and the lid 24 are flat so that the churn will slide into the ice box and can be used as an ordinary dish for storing butter or other food. When it is desired to make ice cream with my churn IU, I rst pack the churn about half full 'with ice, sprinkling rock salt on it, and then deposit one or more containers on top of this bed of ice, the containers being filled with the ingredients for making the desired kind of ice In this A way the driving nut that accompanies every typel of washing machine on the market can be accom-r 45 moving, and then leave it until the cream is cream. Then the space above the container is filled with cracked ice and rock salt and the lid 24 is placed on top, closing the churn I0.

When this has been accomplished it is necessary only to set the churn I0 on top of the upturned legs 32 of my adapter 34 and turn on the washing machine in order to make ice cream.

It ordinarily takes about three hours to make ice cream in a refrigerator mold, whereas with my churn, ice cream can be made in less than half an hour from a standing start.

When it is desired to wash delicate silk stock- .twelve minutes.

Also my churn can be used as a home dry' cleaner by placing the dry cleaning fluid and the clothes in the churn and operating it in the manner above described for washing delicate garments.

It will give a gentle rubbing action to the clothing which will be Washed clean Without any damage as there are no rough corners on the inside of my churn since it is perfectly made of plastic .material with vno sharp edges, but all rounded surfaces.

An advantage of my churn is that it always makes butter uniformly and in substantially the same amount of time. At sixty-three (63) degrecs temperature it will produce butter in about On the other hand, in using a hand churn to make butter, sometimes the oper- ;ator will churn for hours and the butter will not come due to the irregular hand action.

With my churn the mechanical action is certain and with the rib construction and alternating movement the butter always comes in approximately the same time.

Another advantage of my churn and adapter is that there are no parts that move against one another to wear and there is nothing to Wear out.

My churn-will be most helpful in rural communities where they generally have washing machines with agitators suitable for operating my churn and Where, at present, they usually perform the various operations accomplished by my churn by hand.

My churn will be quite inexpensive to make, due to the simplicity of its ingenious and novel construction which makes it possible to provide an inexpensive and economical churn.

Other advantages Will be apparent and it is unaerstood that the form of my vinvention herein shown and described is my preferred embodiment and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention, or the scope of the appended claim.

A churn attachment for a washing machine comprising a receptacle having a flat bottom and side walls, a plurality of raised lugs on the upper surface of said bottom, said lugs having recesses therein which extend through said bottom, and an adapter having a flat upper supporting surface for engaging the flat bottom of said receptacle, a plurality of legs having substantially'equal lateral dimensions on said adapter extending upwardly from adjacent the periphery of said at upper supporting surface in positions to enter said `recesses to form a driving connection between said receptacle and said adapter, said adapter having a downwardly extending skirt portion provided with a central vertical bore having inwardly facing shoulders therein for receiving and forming a driving engagement with the driving nut of the agitator shaft of a washing machine.

WILEY D. MITCHELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in th le of this Ipatent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date 

